Cross border insolvencies and financial restructurings are remarkably opaque considering we live in the Information Age. The mission of the Centre of Main Interest (the COMI) is to light some candles in the darkness and create a forum for further discussion. The Law Offices of Tally M. Wiener, Esq. are pleased to publish the COMI blog.
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Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Buyer Of Bankrupt Saab Aims At Electric Cars For China

Per http://globalinsolvency.com:

Thu., June 14, 2012

A Chinese-born Swedish investor with Japanese support has agreed to buy bankrupt automaker Saab Automobile and plans to bring it back to life as a maker of electric cars, with an initial focus on the Chinese market, Reuters reported. Saab, which has been making cars since 1947, crashed into bankruptcy at the end of 2011, less than two years after former owner General Motors sold it to Dutch group Spyker. Though an admired brand with a loyal fanbase, Saab had struggled for years to survive against bigger competitors. The bankruptcy administrators said on Wednesday they had chosen a consortium called National Electric Vehicle Sweden (NEVS) AB to buy Saab for an undisclosed sum, beating off a bid from Chinese group Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile. "Through the purchase of Saab we begin a new era in the auto industry," NEVS chief executive and main owner Kai Johan Jiang told a news conference. "Marketing and sales will be global but initially we will focus on China. It's there we see the biggest market for electric cars," added Jiang, who was born in China but has Swedish citizenship. He already has wide interests in power production from biomass in China. NEVS said it aimed to build a new electric car based on the Saab 9-3 model, which would be launched at the turn of 2013-2014. A completely new model of car based on Japanese technology and a future Saab platform would also be made.